Curve Balls
by lauren diane
Summary: Three women work together to straighten out their lives...LiRicZ&E...CarLoCarson...Jam


Curve Balls  
  
By Lauren Diane Rated: R---NC-17  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to General Hospital...even though they don't deserve them!  
  
Summary: After their lives are turned upside down, Elizabeth Webber, Carly Roberts, and Sam McCall try to help each other decide what they want and how to get it.  
  
Feedback: Always appreciated!  
  
Author's Note: To help everyone out, here's where my girls are in their story. Elizabeth has just learned she's pregnant with Zander's baby, but she can't forget about Ric. Carly was just released from the hospital. She can't connect to her old life, but she feels obligated to stay with Sonny...and away from Lorenzo, who she can't stop thinking about. And Sam has just been dumped by Jax, who she's fallen madly in love with.  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Elizabeth Webber slowly raised her hand to the door in front of her, then quickly dropped it back down to her side. Three times she'd attempted to knock on Zander's door, and three times she'd failed miserably. But she had to get this through. She had to tell him what she'd learned earlier that day. She had to tell him the news that would change their lives.  
  
She botched her fourth attempt.  
  
Maybe she didn't have to tell him, she reasoned, pacing the hallway outside of Zander's room above Jake's. It wasn't like they were in love. They weren't going to get married, and do the 'baby makes three' kind of dance. She could raise the baby on her own. She'd tell everyone that, after Ric's betrayal, she'd decided men were the anti-Christ and she wanted to skip the love and happiness thing and move right along to a baby. Artificial Insemination was popular these days.  
  
But could she live with herself if she denied Zander the chance to know his own child?  
  
No. The answer was that simple. She couldn't keep Zander in the dark. She raised her hand to the door again.  
  
But what would Ric think? The question had her failing to knock again.  
  
What does it matter what Ric thinks? The angry, bitter half of her screamed.  
  
It matters because you love him. There was that voice that kept telling her to forgive Ric, let him back into her life because it was too short to waste on things that couldn't be changed.  
  
But why do you still love him? He lied to you, tried to prevent you from having a child, almost killed you!  
  
But he was messed up. He's different now. All he needs.  
  
No, no, no! The spectator in her head interrupted. She was not going to start having two sided conversations in her head. She'd be crazier than Ric!  
  
With a force she hadn't realized was present, she raised her fist and pounded on Zander's door.once, twice, three loud knocks. Her hand fell back to her side, and she immediately panicked. She couldn't do this. She had to think of something else to tell Zander.  
  
Or better yet, she had to get out of there before he answered his door.  
  
But just as she turned, she heard the lock click open and unlatch. She turned slowly to find Zander leaning against the frame covered only by a dingy bed sheet.  
  
He looked terrible. Tired and beat up.  
  
"Zander, what happened to you?"  
  
He made a lazy grunting sound, before scrubbing his free hand over his face. "Oh, I just ran into a fist or two. But don't worry. The other guy looks worse." He laughed, thinking back to his fight with Nikolas. He may have gotten a few good jabs in, but Zander wiped the floor with the royal pain in his ass.  
  
Elizabeth felt a pang of fearful hesitation. Could she really bring her child into Zander's life? He might have been traveling on the right track up until now, but with Nikolas and Emily together, there's no telling what Zander would do.  
  
"Zander, baby, get rid of whoever is out there and come back to bed."  
  
Elizabeth visibly flinched at the sound of the all too familiar voice that flowed out of Zander's room. It couldn't be.Zander would never.  
  
"Faith." Elizabeth almost laughed when she saw the skinny blonde tangled in the sheets she herself had been covered by only two weeks before.  
  
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little tike." Faith sat up in bed, let the sheets fall around her waist, exposing her upper body. Elizabeth looked away in disgust. "Zander, honey, we're going to have to refine your friends list."  
  
"You know Faith, I thought it was just Ric you had a thing for, but I think you just like my leftovers."  
  
"Elizabeth." Zander started.  
  
"Oh." Faith's face lit up in the huge, open-mouthed grin Elizabeth associated with her. "The two of you?" She laughed, a husky sound that filled the room with anger. "So, was this before or after Ric?"  
  
"What do you need, Elizabeth?" Zander intervened, recognizing the look of murder in his friend's eyes.  
  
"I need to talk to you," She glared at Faith. "Alone."  
  
When Zander was about to dismiss Faith, she stood and walked to him. "You're not going to ask your boss to leave, are you Zander?"  
  
"Boss?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief? Zander wasn't only sleeping with the viper, he was working for her, too?  
  
"Yeah. I'm working for Faith now. So, if it's something you can't say in front of her, it'll have to wait."  
  
Elizabeth was shocked beyond words. Was this really Zander standing in front of her?  
  
Without responding, Elizabeth left Zander's room. She heard the door slam at her back and Faith's catty laugh follow in her wake.  
  
It was settled then. Zander wouldn't be a part of her child's life.  
  
She made her way down the stairs to the bar. She sat on a stool, ordered water. How had her life gotten this messed up? Women have casual, comfort sex all of the time and don't get pregnant. Why her?  
  
She took a large swallow of her water, slammed the glass on the counter. This was all Ric's fault. If he hadn't been so damn perfect on Halloween. If he hadn't made her feel so warm and loved in his arms. She wouldn't have come to this dive if she wouldn't have considered going home with Ric, losing herself in him like she had before.  
  
"Uh oh. We have another one." The bartender walked back to her. His shaggy hair fell into his eyes, but she could make out the smile in them anyway.  
  
"Another what?" Elizabeth asked annoyed.  
  
"Lady in distress." He accentuated each syllable.  
  
She followed his gaze to the brunette sitting at the other end of the bar. She looked to be about Elizabeth's size. Her hair was longer, darker. She was wearing all black. Elizabeth looked down at her own dark ensemble. Maybe they did have something in common.  
  
"Bad turn of luck?" Elizabeth asked.  
  
Sam McCall let out a loud bark of laughter. "You have no idea." She took another swig of her vodka. Her luck had been going okay. Her luck had finally turned in her favor. But then Sam did it again. She ruined her own happiness. She destroyed the first relationship she'd ever wanted to keep.  
  
The other brunette with the innocent disposition moved to the seat next to Sam. She extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth Webber."  
  
Sam looked at Elizabeth's hand for a moment before excepting it. "Sam McCall." She looked at the drink her new companion had. "If your world is falling down like mine, why aren't you drowning yourself in something a little harder than H2O?"  
  
Elizabeth looked down at her water. If only she could get stinking drunk and forget her troubles. "It's complicated."  
  
Sam considered her for a minute, then blurted out, "You're pregnant!"  
  
Elizabeth scanned the room nervously. "Keep it down. And how in the hell did you know? Is it obvious?"  
  
Sam laughed at Elizabeth. She could really grow to like this girl. "No. I was just starting there. I was going to go with allergic next." She chugged the rest of her drink, motioned Coleman over for a refill. "So that's what has you down in the dumps? You hate the father or something?"  
  
Elizabeth cringed remembering her conversation with Zander. "It's not that exactly. It's just.you know, it's a really long story."  
  
Sam smiled. "Well then that's perfect. I have a friendly ear and plenty of time."  
  
"Well," she hesitated. Did she really want to spill her soul to a stranger? Of course, at least a stranger wouldn't go blabbing it to all of the people in her life. Telling a stranger your problems could be therapeutic. "Okay, um.I have this ex-husband. He's the love of my life, you know. Everything I've wanted since I was a little girl. When I'm with him I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. He makes me feel beautiful and perfect and special.  
  
"But, he's hurt me, lied to me time and time again. He always comes back and tells me this time it'll be different. This time I'm going to focus on us. I don't need revenge on my brother if I have you and our love."  
  
Sam snorted. "Sounds like a crock of shit to me."  
  
"And that's what I keep telling myself. But you have to understand, Sam. Ric has hated his brother since the time he learned what hate meant. He blames him for their mother giving him up as a child. And when she left, he was forced to live with his father and stepmother. His childhood, I can only imagine because he won't talk about it, must have been a nightmare."  
  
"So he wants revenge on this brother of his?" Sam asked, finishing another drink.  
  
"Yes. That's why he came to Port Charles in the first place, to destroy his brother's life. He says he didn't count on me. He did all of these things to Sonny that."  
  
"Wait." Sam nearly spit her drink across the bar. "Are you talking Sonny Corinthos the mob guy?"  
  
Elizabeth felt her insides turn as she nodded. The whole point of talking to a stranger was because they didn't know the people in your story.  
  
"I had a little.run-in with him. Not all that nice of a guy though. Kind of paranoid."  
  
Elizabeth laughed. At least she wasn't a friend of Sonny's. "You think he's bad, you should meet his hitman, Jason Morgan."  
  
"Oh, right. I saw him in here a while back. Kind of creepy looking. All dangerous eyes and cold disposition. Just the type I used to go for. Funny how things change."  
  
"Does that have something to do with your luck turning bad?" Elizabeth wanted to know.  
  
Sam smiled. "Ah ah.it's your turn. Finish your story."  
  
"There's not much more to tell. We've been on and off again for quite some time now. This last stunt he pulled was.terrible doesn't even begin to cover it. I divorced him. And he's been trying ever since to get me back."  
  
"So.did he happen to get you back for just a minute and now you're pregnant?"  
  
Elizabeth massaged the bridge of her nose. "I wish it were that simple. If Ric were the father, I'd be able to go to him, tell him. We'd pick up where we left off, and I really believe the baby and me and our love would be enough for him. For all of us."  
  
"So there's a third party in all of this?" Sam winked at her, causing her to laugh.  
  
"Yes, there's a third party. Zander. He's a friend of mine. I was out with Ric, and he asked me to go home with him. I was ready to. We were kissing at his car. And then it hit me. Everything seemed too damn perfect. So I ran. I ran into Zander. The only reason I slept with him was because it seemed like the only thing that would push Ric away for good. It was the only thing he'd never be able to except."  
  
"And that one night created a baby?"  
  
Elizabeth let out a bitter laugh. "I just keep kicking myself because if I would have went with Ric that night like everything in me was screaming for me to do, I might be pregnant with his child. We might finally get the family that was stolen from us."  
  
"Stolen?" Sam felt herself sober up in anticipation of Elizabeth's answer.  
  
"I was pregnant before. That kind of plays into why Ric hates Sonny so much. He blames Sonny for my fall. He thinks Sonny pushed me."  
  
"Were you pushed?"  
  
Elizabeth hesitated. "I.I've not told anyone this. I didn't tell Ric because I didn't want to encourage him, but I felt a hand shove me that night. I know it wasn't Sonny. He'd never do that to me. But I know I didn't slip, Sam. I know it."  
  
"Who would do something like that?"  
  
"I have a pretty good idea who would. And right now she's upstairs in bed with the father of my child." Elizabeth cringed. "And she's been to bed with my husband.ex-husband" she corrected, "God knows how many times."  
  
"So she has a thing for the men in your life?"  
  
Elizabeth laughed. "That's what I just accused her of."  
  
"But why do you think she would try to kill you?" Sam wanted to know.  
  
"Because she's admitted to trying to poison me. She put a snake in my studio when I wouldn't leave Ric. She's crazy!"  
  
"Wow." Sam tried to keep a straight face through her next comment. "Do you want me to go upstairs and kick her ass for you?"  
  
It took Elizabeth a moment to understand the statement before she burst out in laughter. "No. Not quite yet." Once her laughter was under control, she turned back to Sam. "So tell me why you're here drowning your sorrows."  
  
Sam sighed. "Well, it's not quite as complicated as yours. Have you ever heard of the Dead Man's Hand?" Elizabeth shook her head, no. "Well, this guy Wild Bill was holding this hand of poker cards when he was shot by my great great grandfather. And ever since then, my family has had bad luck. The worst luck. So I set out to find the cards and destroy them. Turns out they've been stolen from this other man who has fallen ill because of it. So his son was looking for the cards too, to restore his father's will to live."  
  
"Jasper Jacks?"  
  
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Sam wondered.  
  
"I heard him and Skye, his ex-wife talking about it at the restaurant I work at."  
  
"Well, I screwed up. When we finally had the cards, I wanted to try them out. So I sabotaged his car. We were stuck in a casino. And all of this time we'd spent together looking for these cards, we fell in love. At least I did. We finally made love that night. And I'd never made love before. I mean, I wasn't a virgin or anything. It had all just been sex before."  
  
Elizabeth smiled. "Yeah. It really is different."  
  
"We went to his father the next day, and he died before he could see the cards. Jax found out what I did to his car, and now he hates me."  
  
"But.you didn't mean for that to happen. You couldn't have known."  
  
Sam stopped her from continuing. "I screwed up, Liz."  
  
"Can I get a scotch neat please?" Both Elizabeth and Sam looked over to the woman who just sat herself next to them.  
  
"Mrs. Corinthos. Haven't seen you in here in a while." Coleman smirked at the blonde. The last time she was in there was when that Lansing guy took her out of here all drugged up.  
  
"Just.don't call me that, okay? Its Carly." She rested her head on the bar. All she needed was a break. Just an hour away from Sonny, the kids.everyone who expected her to feel a certain way about them that she just can't.  
  
"Carly, are you all right?" She heard a familiar voice at her right.  
  
Without looking up, she responded. "Yeah, Liz. I'm just really tired." She looked up now. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem, but.didn't you just get out of the hospital? Are you sure you should be drinking?"  
  
"The baby's out of me, so I'm not in danger of hurting him. And I've always been able to handle my liquor." She chugged the drink Coleman placed in front of her and pushed it forward for a refill.  
  
"Looks like someone is just as bad off as us." Sam said to Elizabeth.  
  
"Yeah, I agree." She spoke to Carly. "Are you sure you're okay? You really don't seem like yourself."  
  
Carly laughed; a bitter, weak sound. "Because, Liz. I'm not at all myself. I wake up from a coma in love with my husband's enemy. And better yet, I don't have feelings for my real family."  
  
Carly ran her hand through her hair, looked down the bar to see an unfamiliar face watching her. She extended her hand. "Carly Roberts."  
  
Sam shakes it. "Sam McCall."  
  
"So what's your story?"  
  
"Fell in love with a man who blames me for his father's death. And he's mostly right."  
  
"Ouch." Carly looked to Elizabeth. "What about you?"  
  
Elizabeth hesitated.  
  
"Come on, Lizzie. It's not like I'm going to run off and tell the whole town." Carly prodded.  
  
Elizabeth considered another moment. Even if Carly did tell someone, she'd deal with it. Secrets like this can't stay hidden forever. Not without help. "I'm pregnant with the wrong man's baby."  
  
"Ric's?" Carly wanted to know.  
  
"No, he'd be the right man. It's Zander's, who is now working---and sleeping---with Faith Roscoe."  
  
"Jesus Criminy." Carly finished another scotch. "I'd say we all had a few nasty curve balls thrown our ways."  
  
TBC 


End file.
